


A  Tremendous Thing

by Cornerofmadness



Category: Prodigal Son (TV 2019)
Genre: Edrisa is a good friend., Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Malcolm Bright Gets a Hug, Malcolm Bright Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-28
Updated: 2020-12-28
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:22:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28377660
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cornerofmadness/pseuds/Cornerofmadness
Summary: Malcolm gets a surprise visit that brightens his day.
Comments: 9
Kudos: 26
Collections: Bite Sized Bits of Fic from 2020, Fandom Trumps Hate 2020





	A  Tremendous Thing

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Brumeier](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brumeier/gifts), [sperrywink](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sperrywink/gifts).



> **Disclaimer:** Not mine, Chris Fedak and Sam Sklaver owns it
> 
> **Notes:** Written for Brumeier in comment_fic for the prompt Prodigal Son, Any, A Head Full of Ghosts (Paul Tremblay) and for Sperrywink for their fandom trumps hate donation and the prompt of Edrisa being a really good friend. Also written for the allbingo prompt of acts of kindness

  
_'You have been my friend,' replied Charlotte. 'That in itself is a tremendous thing.”  
― E.B. White, Charlotte's Web_

Malcolm cocked his head as his doorbell buzzed. Who could be visiting him? He’d specifically asked Dani and JT to keep their distance when they weren’t all together in Gil’s hospital room. He’d been cleared of Eddie’s murder but Ainsley was still on house arrest waiting to hear if she acted to stop an imminent threat on his life and hers when she killed Endicott. He thought it might be better that his friends not catch any blow back from hanging around him too much. Seeing them at Gil’s hospital room was enough for now. Once Gil was back on his feet they’d reevaluate the situation. Maybe by then they’d have a decision about Ainsley’s fate.

Sunshine soared down and landed on his shoulder as he went to see who it was. Mother wouldn’t buzz and he hadn’t told Vijay where to find him. He probably should have but at the end of the day, should he renew a friendship with someone who had no qualms about making a deal with criminals he knew killed someone? To his surprise, Edrisa was at his door.

“Edrisa?”

“Hello, I’ve come to keep you company, if you’ll have me.”

“Of course you’re welcome.” Bright buzzed her in and unlocked the door to the loft itself. He wondered who told her his address or had she taken it from his own arrest report? Edrisa wouldn’t think twice about that. He stood at the top of the stairs and when he saw her lugging up two big bags, he hustled down to help. “What’s all this?” He reached for one bag.

“You’ll see. How are you?” For once she wasn’t smiling as she surrendered the bag. She dragged her gaze over him grim as he’d ever seen her. “Honestly.”

He made a face but didn’t answer. “Let’s get this upstairs.”

“Put it in the kitchen,” Edrisa instructed. 

“Okay.” Malcolm obeyed. Sunshine popped off his shoulder and pecked at the bag. He shooed her away.

“She’s pretty.”

“Sunshine knows she is. I can put her away if you want me to.”

Edrisa waved him off. “How are you, Malcolm?”

He blinked at the use of his first name. He was the only one of the team everyone routinely called by his surname. “What did you bring me?”

“Malcolm!”

He turned his gaze from her, staring at the island’s counter top. She touched his shoulder and he dragged in a ragged breath. “I have a head full of ghosts, Edrisa. The girl in the box no longer haunts me but Eve is there, Endicott too. Some nights Gil has died of his injuries. Others I’m in Rikers with my father because you weren’t able to prove Endicott bought off the forensics lab. Some dreams my father and I team up to stay alive in Rikers, other times he kills me out of revenge for betraying him. If anything, I’m sleeping worse than ever. That’s how I am.”

Edrisa threw her arms around him and hugged him tight. He tensed for a moment, and then melted into the embrace. He might have been the one to cut himself off but he missed being with his new friends, having their acceptance. Edrisa let him go without any of her usual flirtations, cluing him in on how worried she was about him. “Then maybe call one of us and talk when you’re that worked up. You can’t keep having your sympathetic nervous system revving like that. What do you do to relax?”

“Actually, you caught me at it.” He pointed to the yoga mat. “Yoga really does help.”

“Excellent. Meditation too?”

Malcolm wrinkled his nose. “I have trouble quieting my mind.”

Edrisa bobbed her head. “I get that. I’m always monkey minded when I try to. I’ve found doing tai chi beforehand helps.”

“I’ve never tried that.”

“I highly recommend it. I could show you some later if you’d like.” 

Now that sounded like her usual chipper self. “We’ll see. So, what did you bring me and why exactly did you come?” He winced as that came out harsher than he meant it to but she didn’t seem to take offense.

“To keep you company because you need it. Just think about everything you’ve gone through since you started with the NYPD and all that on top of losing your job with the FBI. They say that losing a job can be as emotionally hard hitting as a death in the family.” Edrisa stuck out her finger in front of Sunshine, grinning broadly as the parakeet jumped onto it. “I know that’s how I felt after training so hard to be a doctor only to find out I was too anxious to treat patients. Don’t get me wrong. I _love_ what I do and I’m good at it.”

“Great even,” he broke in, making her positively glow.

“Thank you. But even so, it hit me hard that I wasn’t going to heal people. I know that it’s hard to get through something like that. So, I thought you could use a little company, just to get out of that head full of ghosts, especially after you warned off JT and Dani.”

“The other detectives were iffy about me as it was. Right now, it seemed to be a good idea to limit how much I’m around the others. I don’t want Dani and JT to be judged by the company they keep.”

“All the more reason for a visit. I’m not a detective and I wouldn’t have listened to you if you had told me to stay away.”

Malcolm chuckled. “I believe that. I owe you so much, Edrisa. I know it wasn’t easy on you to look into your own people to find how I was framed and by whom.”

She stroked Sunshine’s little head. “You are more important to me than that. You don’t owe me a thing. I wasn’t about to let you go to jail for a murder I knew you couldn’t possibly have committed.”

Malcolm wished he had been so convinced of his own innocence. Okay, obviously he knew he hadn’t killed Eddy but he _could_ have. _Really? You couldn’t shoot Endicott after what he did to Mom, to Gil and god knows what he did to Ains. She still won’t tell you. Could you really have killed Eddie for murdering Eve, a woman who at best used you?_ He shook his head. “Still, I am grateful.”

Sunshine flew off Edrisa’s finger and she patted his shoulder. “You’re welcome. I brought you some lunch.”

“Oh, Edrisa, I don’t-”

“Eat? I’m aware. Of course, you need to so I talked to Gil about what you actually do eat, your mother too. I stopped off at Gil’s and got this out of the freezer.” She reached into the bag and pulled out a container. “Tinola soup. The ginger in it will do your stomach good.”

Malcolm’s spirits lifted. “I love Gil’s soup. Thank you. I didn’t realize you had keys.”

“I’m taking care of his cats since you were still under house arrest for that first week until you were cleared. I also stopped at Antennuchi’s and picked up the artichoke and spinach tart your mother said you’ll eat.”

“You didn’t have to!”

“My pleasure.” Edrisa fetched out the tart. “It’ll need reheating or microwaving.”

“The microwave is good for a single slice. I know I can’t eat more. I’ll get the soup reheating though.” Malcolm hunted through the cabinet for a sauce pan. 

“Fair enough. And in here is something I made. It’s a Hawaiian guava cake. My family lived in Hawaii when I was born before moving here when I was five. Mom taught me some Hawaii recipes, a lot of them use spam which ugh.”

“I’ll echo that.”

“Or tropical things too hard to find here but guava juice is easy.”

“You made me a cake?” Malcolm hadn’t had anyone do that since Jackie had died. “Thank you!”

“You don’t even know if it’s any good.” Edrisa took a knife out of the block, which really he should consider locking away in case he had another bad night terror that left him acting things out. She carved up the tart.

He handed her two small plates. “Doesn’t matter. I appreciate the effort and the thought.”

He tended the soup while she microwaved the tart slabs. Malcolm fetched the napkins and silverware. He also got the bowls down and two glasses. “I have sparkling water in the fridge and…not much else.”

Edrisa wrinkled her nose. “I’ll just take tap water. I don’t like carbonation.”

“Okay.” He gave her the glass and got himself bottled water.

They sat down to the soup and tart. Malcolm paused, spoon halfway to his mouth. The scent of garlic and ginger tickled his nose and he was transported back in time.

“Is something wrong?” 

He shook his head. “Just thinking about the first time Gil made me this soup. I was eleven and you would have thought he was poisoning me the way I reacted to it.”

“Too strongly flavored? I’ve not had it before but that first taste was fantastic.” She took another big spoonful.

“It was too unusual I guess. I had a lot of food issues back then, probably more than I do now. Mother indulged me. Gil and Jackie challenged me. I will admit the ginger does help settle my stomach.”

“Is it all psychosomatic?”

“Yes. I’ve tried working on it, I really have. My head’s just a mess.” He sighed.

“Of course, it is. You lost your entire childhood,” Edrisa replied sympathetically as she sliced the point off her tart slice with a fork. 

Malcolm took a good sip of his soup, letting those words bounce around his head. “I suppose I have. No, I know I have but most people don’t make that leap.”

“Seems obvious to me. I’ve read up on your father and of course, I don’t know how true any of it was in those true crime books and podcasts but it didn’t seem like he was violent with your family.”

“Not at all.”

“So, you went from having a very nice dad to learning what he really was. I know you were treated badly by your former friends after that. How is that anything but a lost childhood?”

“It would have been easier if my father had been horrible to us. It would have been a relief to have him gone. But he was a great dad, Edrisa. It’s hard to get my head around the dichotomy sometimes.”

“Of course, it is. If it wasn’t, I’d be worried about you. I can’t fix that though I wish I could. You don’t deserve half of what people do and say to you. So, I plan to do one thing I can do. I want to drop by once or twice a week, job permitting, to check up on you.”

“I don’t…” he started to say and her happy expression crumbled. He couldn’t do that to her. She was trying to help and he appreciated that. It had been a long time since he’d known people like this, who liked him for himself and wanted to help him. “I don’t know what to say. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. I also have something that might recapture a little of that lost childhood.”

Malcolm raised his eyebrows. “Puzzles?”

“How’d you guess?”

“You said you love them and if I were a betting man, that’s what I’d bet was in that other bag.”

“You’d be right. We can start it when we have cake.”

“I’d like that.” Shockingly enough he did like that. He hadn’t done anything that carefree in years. Maybe this was exactly what he needed. 

They finished the lunch which actually did hit the spot. Edrisa carved the cake which proved to be coated with something pink and white. 

“Strawberry cake,” she said as if reading his mind, “And the icing is a cream cheese and cool whip concoction covered with the guava juice gel. You’ll have to put the rest in the fridge.”

“You’re leaving it all?”

“It’s a gift. Yes.”

“Thank you, I don’t know what to say to that either.”

“Hopefully, you’ll like it.”

As Malcolm put the slices on plates, she dragged out the puzzle box. He beckoned for her to follow to the living room area. “We can build it in here.”

“Sure. Would you like some tea?” Edrisa asked. “I’ve brought some I think you might like.”

“Okay, I’ll put on the kettle.” He set the plates on the coffee table. “What kind did you bring?” 

Edrisa took it out of the bag and his eyes widened as he read the label. “It’s a blend of chai tea and CBD oil. It’ll help you relax and it’s legal so no worries there. I find it helpful and it’s pretty tasty. It shouldn’t interfere with your medications.”

Malcolm opened his mouth to say no but why? He’d been through hell. At this point a little CBD oil wasn’t going to hurt anything. “I’ve never tried in. I’m curious. Why not?”

“Great. No pressure. If you want something different, I won’t be offended.”

“No, I do want to try it. Let’s see the puzzle.” Malcolm put on the kettle and walked into another surprise in the living room.

It wasn’t just a puzzle. It was a twelve hundred piece 3-D puzzle of Gotham City.

“Gotham City?”

“Love comic books. Have you ever read any?” She all but bounced as she asked.

“Gil gave me some when I was a kid but Mother didn’t really approve. I do like superhero movies though so this should be a blast.” Malcolm sat down and tried his cake when he saw Sunshine eyeing it from the top of a lamp shade. The sweet guava and strawberry layers electrified his tongue.

“This is amazing, Edrisa!”

“I’m glad you like it.”

“Very much.”

Malcolm liked more than the cake. The tea was good, though he wasn’t sure he felt that much more relaxed. The puzzle was fun. They hadn’t gotten it finished by the time Edrisa said she needed to leave. Malcolm agreed to leave it on his table and she would be back later in the week.

He walked her to the door. “Edrisa, thank you for coming. I feel better.”

“Excellent. I’m glad I could help.”

“You did more than that. I feel a little less haunted.”

The warmth of her smile filled him. “And I meant it earlier. You can call me or the others, no matter the time of night. We discussed it, we’re all willing to help.”

“You’ll never know just how much that means,” he whispered.

Edrisa gave him a parting hug. “I have a good idea. Take care. I’ll be back to finish that puzzle.”

“I’m looking forward to it. Thank you again.”

Once she was gone, Malcolm surveyed the partially constructed Gotham City and smiled. He covered it with a sheet to keep Sunshine out of it. He truly was looking forward to her visiting again. He’d have to do something to thank her for being such a good friend but maybe, just building the puzzle with her was enough. Edrisa was happy to donate time to him and he appreciated it. Feeling good, Malcolm stretched out on the couch with a book. So, this is what it felt like to allow people into his life? He would have to do this more often.


End file.
